4 ms·

Look at this picture of the final stage, after the 'stalk' sprouts from the ants head. Pretty haunting. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Oph

• throwaway7645 9y ago
  Netflix has a new fungus documentary out called "Mushrooms" I think that shows this scene. This fungus is now being used for Cancer research.
  • pwdisswordfish 9y ago
    I've seen this before, in a movie - "we cured cancer", then, suddenly, zombie apocalypse.
• gabaix 9y ago
  There is a 3-minute video from BBC Planet Earth showing an infected ant and its demise. https://youtu.be/XuKjBIBBAL8 https://youtu.be/XuKjBIBBAL8 It is like watching the Alien scene, except this is real.
  • warent 9y ago
    It never occurred to me before... from the perspective of an insect (with a bit of anthropomorphism), fungus is an invisible, undefeatable faceless enemy that quickly turns the world into a nightmarish hellscape. It's almost like the borg. I'm fucking scared. Imagining A Bug's Life or Antz could have been far less family-friendly if a couple of these spores made an appearance.
• leggomylibro 9y ago
  Yeah, but insects in nature die terribly in all kinds of awful ways. Like pitcher plants? Or spiders? Yikes! But then you see what a determined column of army ants can do to a frickin' horse, and you feel less bad about mother nature's ruthless biowarfare striving to keep them in check. No wonder insects and swarms are the inspiration for so much horror-y sci-fi